Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Oh, if Nolan wants it, then...

Ryan was in favor of the Astros becoming the fifth team in the AL West. He doesn't like it that the Rangers are the lone Central Time Zone team in the division, which leads to late games for fans to watch and late-night travel arrangements for the team.

And, once the Astros become competitive again, there would be a natural Texas rivalry between the teams.

"It'd be good for baseball in Texas to have two teams in the same state vying for the division lead," Ryan said.

Funny how it's a natural rivalry for the team who might win the pennant. For the other team, it's death by designated hitter.

If its good for baseball to have 2 teams in close geographical proximity in the same league then why are the Marlins & Rays in separate leagues? How about the Royals & Cardinals? Mets & Yankees? Cubs & White Sox?

Andrew, I agree completely. The only two teams as close as Dallas and Houston that play in the same division are Dodgers and Padres, and you see how that works out: The Padres operate at a significant economic disadvantage, despite their history of relative success.

People are missing the point the reason for the move is not to have an inter state rivarly that is just the added incentive to move,it is to get 5 teams in the AL west and 5 teams in the NL central,moving the Astros as opposed to any other team would have the biggest upside,it would cause the least amount of upheival for instance if the D-Backs were to move, either way the Astros would still have to move as well this way one team moves(Astros) and the league and the fans will get the most bang for their buck .The D-Backs are a competitive team right now and that would be more difficult to move them because the Rangers and Angels, i am sure would not be to keen on having them move it is more easy to move a bad team as to ease a team in as not to offset the current balance of power.

Nolan Ryan....once a sellout, always a sellout. He continue to find ways stick it to the Astros.

First going to the Rangers as a player then a decade later part of the staff that I don't mind.

Then swapping Round Rock Express affiliation to Rangers this year. What turned me off when I went to Express game everything about their past wiped clean like it never existed. It's all about the Rangers on banners, billboards, and the programs.

That just turned me off on Nolan Ryan and felt he sold Astros fans down the creek.

Blah blah blah, Astros are the most convenient team to move, blah blah blah.

Is MLB's comfort suppose to ease the pain from screwing over a fanbase?

Thank god this type of arrogant thinking is countered by the rule requiring the owner to agree to move their team. While Selig is a low life extortionist, he needs the consent of a fool to ultimately pull it off. Let's hope neither McLane nor Crane is interested in being Bud's fool.

1. Ryan didn't want to leave the Astros as a pitcher. The Astros didn't want him. What was he supposed to do, retire? That comment's as stupid as those about Lance Berkman being a traitor because he signed with the Cardinals after Ed Wade told him to take a hike.

2. Ryan had a personal services contract with the Astros. Drayton used him as a Jimmy Wynn-type PR prop. The Rangers offered Ryan the chance to be the team president and to, in effect, run the team. Even then, Ryan tried to work a deal and stay with the Astros. Drayton chose to keep Tal Smith -- the same Tal Smith who never wanted to sign Ryan as a pitcher in the first place. What would you do if you were Ryan?

3. As owner of the Express, Ryan has a bit of a duty to the people of Austin to put the best possible team on the field -- something Astros fans wouldn't know about because Drayton hasn't operated under that plan. The contract with the Astros ended. And we all know how crappy the Astros farm system has been, and it was pretty well known that the Rangers had a good farm system. Once again, what was Ryan supposed to do? Stick with crap because that's what Astros fan wanted, or get a better affiliation for the people who actually attend his games?

4. Reuben: the Padres operate at a significant ecomonic disadvantage partly because of the John Moores divorce and partly because the ownership group that bought the team from Moores did so by going into debt, much like Crane's doing. And the Dodgers are currently in about the worst financial shape of any team in baseball, thanks to the McCourt divorvce and, once again, because McCourt leveraged himself to the hilt to buy the team, much like Crane is doing.

5. Bitch about Selig all that you want, but even if Drayton was keeping the team the franchise would move because a) Drayton is Selig's bitch, b) Drayton's been the biggest pusher of this non-existent rivalry with the Rangers, and c) Drayton saw what the crowds were like because all of you idiots sold the place out for the games with the Yankees and Red Sox, and money is all that Drayton cares about, d) Drayton could have stopped all of this long ago by just by invoking the MLB constitution and refusing to move, something which he's refused to do, e) Crane could do the same thing, but all we've heard from Crane is that he's waiting for the right financial incentive to make the move.

6. Re the proximinty argument: some people really need some geogrpahy lessons because while they're in different states, the Phillies and Mets are only about 100 miles from each other, and the Cubs and Brewers are at about that same distance apart.

7. As one of the other anonymous's said -- really, can people start posting phony names or something so it's easier to tell people apart -- the Astros are moving to a Western Division even if it's the D-Backs who shift leagues.

8. I don't like the move, but it's hard to understand the screwing over the fanbase argument. The Astros played in the NL West for a majority of their history, which means they had a ton of seasons with late night West Coast starts. I grew up on that, so I don't see why that's such a big deal. Even if the D-Backs move, the Astros are still going to the West. Yeah, the Rangers are a much better team than the Astros, but instead of bitching about that competitive disadvantage, perhaps you should be bitching about Drayton screwing up the team and hope that Crane hires someone who knows what he's doing and the team improves and beats everybody in the division.

You guys picked a fine time to start complaining about all of this. Everyone here was cheering for Crane in May, even after the sleazy press reports and the fact no one in DFW wanted him anywhere near the Rangers. You guys waited until your house was 95% burned down before calling 911.

If people made more noise about Crane's sleazy background, sleazy business practices, huge amount of debt ($350,000,000!!), and the possible move to the A.L., maybe we wouldn't be having this discussion now.

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